Going with the ith flow

Two melds enticingly into one when an inner-city terrace tones up for contemporary living.

- CHRIS PEARSON

Yoga has many benefits and, for the owner of this home in Sydney's eastern suburbs, they came in exciting and surprising ways. Its architect, Pouné Parsanejad of Studio P, moonlights as a yoga instructor and the owner went to her classes, establishing such a rapport that, when she wanted a designer for her new home, it was a no-brainer. With its flexible spaces and seamless flow, this lithe and supple home has become the perfect fit for an active family of four: a couple and their two children in their twenties.

However, when Pouné and colleague Emily Ellis first saw the home in 2018, it was rigid and rather formal due to years of random renovating. Most significantly, in the 1970s, two Victorian terraces had been joined at the front while a separate studio had popped up at the rear, creating two oddly mismatched buildings separated by a courtyard. But when the couple bought the property in 2018, they could see potential. "It was a mini compound, where we could come together as a family, but it also offered separation," says the owner.